Former Chelsea and Super Eagles midfielder John Obi Mikel has revealed that strict eligibility rules prevented Manchester United from signing him as a teenager, despite the club’s strong interest.
Mikel, who was just 16 at the time, spent about a month training at Old Trafford and regularly worked with the Manchester United first team. He said then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson was keen to keep him but was constrained by Premier League regulations on young African players.
Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, Mikel explained that non-European players were required to have played in at least 75 per cent of their country’s senior national team matches to qualify for a transfer. Having not yet featured for Nigeria’s senior team, he did not meet the criteria.
His age also posed a challenge, as he was not yet eligible to play competitively for United’s first team. “The idea was to bring me in quietly and move things along before I turned 18,” he said.
Mikel recalled Ferguson’s confidence in his abilities, noting that the legendary manager often paired him with veteran midfielder Roy Keane during training sessions.
“Fergie loved me. He would always pair me with Roy Keane because he thought Keane would protect me from the likes of Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, who were always tackling people in training,” Mikel said.
Elijah Adeyemi
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